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SAMOA: NAVIGATORS ISLANDS 



tapais in no sense a woven fabric, but in the material employed, 

 as well as in the processes of its manufacture, is more a paper 

 than a cloth. Tapa is the inner bark of Broussonetia papyrifera, a 

 member of the mulberry family. It is beaten out on a board and 

 the narrow strips are joined together with a paste of arrowroot, so 

 as to form any width or length required. The juice of berries, red 

 clay, and the soot of the burned candle-nut furnish the coloring 



SAMOAN BRIDE 



matter with which to form the figures and designs generally 

 seen on the native cloth. The fabric can be beaten out as thin 

 as the most delicate tissue paper, and in this form is soft and 

 smooth in texture. Fine mats are skillfully woven by women 

 from the leaf fibers of a species of pandanus, which are scraped 

 as thin as tissue paper. They are regarded as heirlooms and 

 are carefully preserved. 



